Be sure to check your campus E-mail and Course Homepage using MyLamarPA campus web portal (My.LamarPA.edu). When you’ve logged in, click the email icon in the upper right-hand corner to check email, or click on the “My Courses” tab to get to your Course Homepage. Click the link to your course and review the information presented. It is important that you check your email and Course Homepage regularly. You can also access your grades, transcripts, and determine who you academic advisor is by using MyLamarPA.

Course Information

Course Number

90169

Course Description

This course is an introduction and orientation to the college. It assists the student in making adequate social and personal adjustments to college life, developing educational and career goals, and becoming familiar with institutional curricula and policies. The course includes techniques for note taking and preparing for exams. It is required of all students who are enrolled in developmental courses and have not completed 15 hours of college-level work. The course is recommended for all students in their first semester at Lamar State College - Port Arthur. A grade of 'C' or better must be earned to meet the institutional requirement: otherwise the course must be repeated.

Course Prerequisites

None

Required Textbooks

Step by Step to College and Career Success, 4th Edition. Gardner & Barefoot, Bedford/St. Martin's, 2011.

Attendance Policy

Research has shown a cause and effect relationship between attendance and college success. FOUR unexcused absences will result in a grade of "F" regardless of the student's performance in class to that time. Excused absences include hospitalization of you or an immediate family member, participation in a college event, or a religious holy day. Prior notification to me for pending absences due to college events or religious holy days is required. Documentation of hospitalization is required. Late work is unacceptable.

Your presence in this class will involve your attention to lectures, presentations by other students, participation in open class discussion, reading of the text as well as other materials related to the information covered in class, as well as the completion of the writing assignment. You will receive 10 points per class attended to total 150 points.

The following procedure will be used to give students with good attendance extra points:

For 0 absences, 4 points will be added to the final course tally. For no more than 1 absence, 3 points will be added to the final course tally. For no more than 2 absences, 2 points will be added to the final course tally. For no more than 3 absences, 1 point will be added to the final course tally.

Course Grading Scale

765-850=A

680-764=B

595-679=C

510-594=D

509 and below =F

Determination of Final Grade

The final course grade will be based on total points accumulated (not percentages) from exams (400), class participation and attendance (150), daily work and homework (100), preparation for career report (50), career report (100), and verbal career report (50). With prior approval of your instructor, you may also earn extra credit for campus events.

Disturbance in class is a one point deduction from the final grade, per incidence, and includes but is not limited to: cell phones ringing, text messages, talking without permission and other disrespectful behavior. Laptops may be used only with instructor permission or the Special Populations Coordinator.

1. Demonstrate the ability to analyze and interpret assigned reading materials and written instructions from both the textbook and instructor measured by pretest, posttest, written class excercises, and essay rubric (PSLO ALPHA, PSLSO 1, PSLO 2)

Academic honesty is expected from all students, and dishonesty in any form will not be tolerated. Please consult the LSC-PA policies (Section IX, subsection A, in the Faculty Handbook) for consequences of academic dishonesty.

Facility Policies

No food or tobacco products are allowed in the classroom.

Only students enrolled in the course are allowed in the classroom, except by special instructor permission.

Electronic devices (including but not restricted to cell phones, MP3 players, and laptop computers) shall not be used during examinations unless specifically allowed by the instructor.

Use of electronic devices during normal class hours distracts other students, disrupts the class, and wastes valuable time. Instructors have an obligation to reduce such disruptions.

Turn your cellphones to vibrate when you enter the classroom.

Additional Information

I will not discuss your grades over the phone or by email. If you want to discuss your grades, you must come to my office, in person.

Important Information

ADA Considerations

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statue that provides comprehensive
civil rights for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students
with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their
disabilities. If you believe you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact the
Special Populations Coordinator, Room 210D, in the Madison Monroe Building. The phone number is (409) 984-6251.

Copyright Violations

Some material in this course may be copyrighted. They may be used only for instructional purposes this semester,
by students enrolled in this course. These materials are being used fairly and legally.
No one may distribute or share these copyrighted materials in any medium or format with anyone outside this class,
including publishing essays with copyrighted material, uploading copyrighted material to Facebook or YouTube, or
painting or performing copyrighted material for public display.

Copyright violation is not the same thing as plagiarism. Plagiarism is intellectual dishonesty. Offenses of
plagiarism result in lower grades or failing scores, and professors and the college strictly enforce plagiarism
rules. There is never any acceptable use of plagiarism. Copyright violation is a legal offense, punishable by
large fines and penalties.

Copyrighted material can be used if permission from the material’s creator is obtained, or if its use meets the
standards of fair use in an educational setting. For example, a student can quote a line from Shakespeare’s
Hamlet in a report without violating copyright but still be guilty of plagiarism if the quotation is not properly
documented.

If you are in doubt about what material can be freely used, ask your professor or contact the Dean of
Library Services, at (409) 984-6216.

Assessment Statement

Assessment is a process by which LSCPA can help you learn better and gauge the level of progress you have made to
attain knowledge, skills, beliefs, and values. It also helps your professors understand how to improve teaching
and testing methods in your classes, and it helps each department understand and improve degree and certificate
programs.

Periodically LSC-PA will collect assessment data for research and reporting purposes, including statistical data
and sometimes copies of your work. Be assured that all material the college uses for assessment purposes will be
kept confidential. To ensure anonymity, your name will be removed from any material we use for assessment
purposes, including video-recorded performances, speeches, and projects.

If you object to allowing LSC-PA to use your material for assessment purposes, submit a letter stating so to your
professor by the 12th class day. You will still be required to participate in whatever assessments are being
done; we just won’t use your data.

What’s the difference between assessment and grades? The grades you get on papers, projects, speeches, and
assignments are specific types of focused assessment. LSC-PA’s assessment efforts include class grades, surveys,
standardized tests, and other tools.

Privacy Notice

Federal privacy laws apply to college students. This means that college employees, including instructors, cannot
divulge information to third parties, including parents and legal guardians of students. Even if the students are
minors, information about their college work cannot be shared with anyone except in very limited circumstances.

Anyone requesting information about a student should be referred to the Registrar. Instructors will be notified in
writing by that Office about what information may be released and to whom.

Please remember that releasing private information about a student, however innocuous it may seem, can be a
violation of federal law, with very serious consequences.

Circumstances under which information may be released:

An adult student may submit, to the Registrar, a handwritten, signed note granting permission for release of
information. The note must specify what information may be divulged, and it must specify the name of the person
to whom the information may be given.

A parent or guardian may be given access to information about a student by providing a copy of a filed tax return
that shows that the student was listed as a dependent of that parent or guardian. The tax return must be for last
complete tax year. Again, this documentation must be submitted to the Registrar’s Office.

A parent or guardian may be given access to information about a student if the student logs on to My.LamarPA.edu
and sends an email to the Registrar granting permission. The email must specify what information may be given and
the name of the person to whom it may be given.

Co-enrollment students are protected by the same privacy laws as adult students.

The Registrar’s office is located in the Student Center room 303B, and can be reached at (409) 984-6165.

College-Level Perspectives

This course helps add to the students’ overall collegiate experience in the following ways:

Establishing broad and multiple perspectives on the individual in relationship to the larger society and world in which s/he lives, and to understand the responsibilities of living in a culturally and ethnically diversified world.

Stimulating a capacity to discuss and reflect upon individual, political, economic, and social aspects of life in order to understand ways in which to be a responsible member of society.

Developing a capacity to use knowledge of how technology and science affect their lives.

Developing personal values for ethical behavior.

Developing the ability to make aesthetic judgments.

Using logical reasoning in problem solving.

Integrating knowledge and understand the interrelationships of the scholarly disciplines.

Degree Plan Evaluation

A Degree Plan Evaluation will help you determine which classes you need to complete your program.

Sign in to your my.lamarpa.edu account.

Click on the “My Services” tab.

Click on the “Student” tab.

Click on Student Records.

Click on Degree Evaluation.

Select the term you are planning on registering for (i.e. Summer I, Summer II, Fall, or Spring)

Verify that the Curriculum Information (your MAJOR) is correct

Click on “Generate New Evaluation” at the bottom of the screen.

Click the radio button next to Program

Click on the Generate Request button.

All of the classes that you have taken that apply to your declared major will be listed on the right. If you have
a class that still needs to be completed, a “NO” will be listed on the right next to the required class.

HB 2504

This syllabus is part of LSC-PA’s efforts to comply with Texas House Bill 2504.

Lamar State College - Port Arthur

Mission

Lamar State College - Port Arthur, a member of The Texas State University System, is an open-access, comprehensive
public two-year college offering quality and affordable instruction leading to associate degrees and a variety of
certificates. The College embraces the premise that education is an ongoing process that enhances career
potential, broadens intellectual horizons, and enriches life.

Core Values

Shared commitment by faculty, staff and administration to a mission characterized by student learning, diversity, and community involvement

General education/core curriculum that develops the values and concepts that allow the student to make a meaningful contribution in the workplace or community

Academic and technical programs designed to fulfill our commitment to accommodate students with diverse goals and backgrounds, using a variety of delivery methods, on and off campus

Technical education programs that provide for the acquisition of the knowledge, skills and behavior necessary for initial and continued employment

Student achievement characterized by attainment of individual goals and measured by successful accomplishments and completion of curriculum